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l. H. IQHARDS. STARTING SWICH.

APPLICATIQN FILED um. is, 19m

Ls mmm De@ 23,

mfg/wan .1 STATES Parier nic ULU? H. RCHARDS, OF NEWARK, N EW JERSEY, ASSGNR TO SPLKTDRF ELECTRICAL CMPANY, OF NEWARK, NRV? JERSEY.

STARTING-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

)Patented Dec. 23, 3in1@ Original application lcd December 2, 1916, Serial No. 134,750. Divided and this application iled January i 16,1918. serial No. 212,098.

" To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that l', JULiUs H. RICHARDS t i 7 a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, iii the county of Essex and State ,of

.` New Jersey, have 'inventedcertainnew and 'useful Improvements in Starting-Switches,

of which the following` is a specification.

Iirtlie operation of electric motors used for thepurpose ofcranking internal coin.-

bastion engines a special switch is employed for controlling the starting motor circuit.

. lu the .pearly startingsystcms it was custom ary to have an arrangenlient whereby a re sistance was inserted in the motor armature circuit in order tocut down the initial rush fof current and inorder furtlieithat the niotorariiiature might be turned o ver slowly sothat `the driving gear would be meshed withthegear to be driven on the. engine. it has now, however, become standard practice to close the battery circuit directly through the starting motor, special.arrangements being' Pf-Ovdd, OI engaging' the motor with the 'engine "This procedure means that there is a heavyinitial :tlowot current and theordinaryswitch would not serve the 'purpose sothat uspecial switches have been designed' to accomplish this function.`

In many ot' the switches designed for this worky considerable trouble has been experienced by removing part of the pressure `from the switch actuatin member after the liirstinitial movement thereof. ,Yractically these contacts.

,c alls'witches for starting motors are adapted to'be operated by the foot and when so operated there is a tendency for the operator to to fail to maintain as much pressure on the actuating member during the entire cranking operation as at irst applied with the result thatthe switch contacts become partially opened with a consequent burning of the coperatingcontacts and the introduo tion of 'an abnormal amount of resistance at Since the current flowing in the starting .motor circuit is a. heavy one great Acare must be exercisedin all `portions of the motorcircuit to keepthe ohniic drop to the vlowest 'value possible in order to get the maximum torque from thev electric motor.

It is the object of 'my invention to provide a swtchfwhich overcomes the diiciiltiesas above set forth land one in which the y ber 2, 1916.-

Inthe drawing, Figure l a view of my startinggswitch with part oit the members in section andv with thel cover removed from the housing.`l Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic yshowing of the `.circuit connections involved when my switch is applied to the control ot electric motors.

Referring now :to the details, in which like .numbers refer to correspondingparts, 1 is a casing within which 4the switch blades 2 and 3 are held in position by the connecting bolts 4f and 5; ln some eases one of the switch blades and connector i may be grounded directly to the vhousing' l, but as shown-in- Fig..] both the switch blades 2 andv3andtlieconnectors@fand 5 are insulated in any well known manner as by bushing and insulators from the housing i.. Extending through the housing' l and between the blades2 and 3 is an actuating member or rodk'r having an operating head i attached to one end thereof. 'U pon rod 6 is an electrical contact member or runner 8, which is constructed of suitable conducting material, such as copper. rllie ruimer 8 is carried on an insulating bushing 9 which is looselymoiinted on the rod 6 as indicated by4 the space l0 between the insulator 9 and the rod 6.v Adjacent the runner 8 and between the arms ti'iereof is an. insulating washer ll which is pressed against the ruimer by means of a compression spring i2. The

t? ti outer end. `of the spring i2 ab'uts against a collar 13 which in turn is fastened to the `rod G.' According to the method shownin Fig. irthe collar 13 has a slight counterbore at one end the walls of which counterbore are in the,` nature of a circular groove and the arc of which groove is substantially a semi-circle, in 'the' i' d adjacent the 2groove in the collar there is provided a corresponding 'circular groove. i Coperatingl with the groove Yin the collar and rod is a resilient circular ring 14.' Said ring lelis made of circular' stoclr `1and of such a diameter andresiliency as to engage both rod and collar to thereby tasten the collar firmly in place, yet should it be necessary the collar 1,3.may be readily removed. The rod 6 is positioned in the housing 1 by another collar 15 and ring 16 both of which are constructed the same as collar 13 and ring 14. Abutting against the end-wall of the housing 1 is a spring member 17 having its other end pressing against collar 13 thereby maintaining the rod 6 in its open eir-` vsubstantially parallel when the runner 8 is in engagement with both blades. The workingist surface 18 projects beyond the working surface 19 and is in continual engagement with the runner 8 which serves to guide the runner 8 whereby it will not turn around on the rod 6, and will, therefore, present a fiat surfacev to the working surface 19 0f switch blade 3. Since the runner 8 is flexibly mounted on the rod 6 as previously described, it will be seen that when the' actuating rod G` is operated by 'pressure on the head 7 that the runner 8 will move laterally on` rod 6 so that the pressure between the switch blades 2 and 3 will be equalized and a perfect contact will be made on both arms of the runner by the working surfaces 18 .and 19.' It will also be seen that after the actuating` rod 6 is moved to its fully operated position, whereby the shoulder 2G hits on the end `,21 of the= housing l, that the arms of the switch runner 8 make contact along the entire Working surface 19 of the blade 3 and hence there can beconsiderable of a return movement of the rod 6, due to pressureon the head 7 beingl diminished, without breaking the circuit or Without materially increasing' the ohinic drop across the switch, hence any destructive arc at the switchcontacts is avoided by a reduction of pressure on the switch actuating member. After the engine has been started it is the customary practice to disengage the motor automatically therefrom and hence the motor armature 'will then turn at its maximum speed under no load be noted from Fig. 1 that the collar 13 isl positioned on the rod 6 at considerable distance from the ends of the arms of runner 8 so that there is no danger of any short circuit between the collar 13 and the arms of the runner 8.

While I,have shown the preferred form of my invention'yet it will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from the spirit of the invention and the -scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. A switch mechanism having in combination, a housing, an actuating rod extending therethrough, switch blades mounted within said housing with their working surfaces substantially,parallel tosaid rod, a U-sliaped switch runner mounted upon said rod and held in place by a spiral spring, said runner having its arms extending substantially parallel to the working surfaces of said blades adapted to establish anelectrical connection between said blades when actuated by said rod, one of said blades being adapted to constantly .engage said-run nerto guidingly'hold the saine in proper alinement.

2. A switch mechanisinhaving in combination, a housing, an actuating ymember eX- tending therethrough`l switch blades mounted within said housing, a switch runner mounted upon lsaid member and. resilient means to hold the. same in place thereon, said' runner being adapted to establish an yelectrical connection between said blades with said runner to guidinglyfhold the'same inpproper alinement, and'a second resilient means tending to hold said runner in open circuit position relative y to said switch blades. 'e

3. A switch mechanism having in combination, a housing, an actuating rod extending therethrough, switch blades mounted within said housing, a switch runner carried by said rod adapted when actuated the'rehyite establish van electrical connection betwtien(v said blades, one of saidblades being in constant engagement with said runlner to guidingly ho'ld the samev in proper alinement, a resilient member upon said rod for holding said runner in position thereon, said resilient member being held in place by a collar upon said rod,and resilient means for -securely fastening said collar upon said rod.

4. A switch mechanism having in combination, a housing, an actuating iod extending therethrough, switch blades mounted within said housing, a switch runner carried by said rod and adapted when actuated thereby to establish an electrical coniiecton` between saidblades, one of said blades be,y ing in constant engagement with said' runner to guidingly hold the saine in` proper alinement, a resilient member upon said rod nia ' said blades being in for holding said runner in position thereon, said resilient ineinber being held in position by a collar upon said rod, a circular groove in said collar, a corresponding circular groove in said rod, and resilient means cooperating between said grooves for the purpose of detachably securing said collar upon said rod; t

5. In a starting switch the combination of, a housing, switch blades mounted within said housing and having their working surfaces substantiallyparallel,an actuating rod carried by said housing and extending longitudinally of the saine between said switch blades, a metallic switch runner carried by but insulated .from said rod and adapted when actuated thereby to establish an electrical connection between said blades, one ot' with Said runner to guidingly hold the saine in alinement to properly engage the other blade, said n'ietallic switch runner being. loosely mounted on said rod whereby itis capable of being shifted by said switch blades to equalize the pressure therebetween: and secure a maximum area of contact.

(3. In a startingswitch ,the combinationl of, a housing, switch blades mounted within lsaid housing, an actuating rod supported by the housing between said switch blades, a stop collar on said-rod, a second collar on said rod and'a compression spring between the last mentioned collar and the end wall of said housing acting to hold said rod in open circuit position, a switch runner cai'- i'ied by said rod intermediate ot' said collars and a compression springabuiiing igainst the second mentioned collar and acting on the switch riliiiier lo llcxibhv holdthe said ruimer in position on'said rod as and for the purpose described.

7. lil a starting switch the combination of, a housing, switch blades mounted within said housing, an actuating rod supported by theihousing luitwccn said switch blades` a stop collar on said i'od. a sccond collar on said i'od and a compression spring between fthe last mentioned.collar-alid (he end waH/ ot' said housing acting to hold said rod in normal open circuitposiion. a- U-shaped switch run'ncr mounted on'said rod intercoiistant engagement y bearingsl in each of, a housing, switch blades mounted within said housing and having the working surface of one longer than the working surface ofthe other, a metallic actuating rod extending throiigh the housing and havin bearings in each end of said housing .and

a foot pedal on one end ofsaid r0d,. a.A U-shaped electrical connector having arms of considerable area carried by said rod and adapted tovelectrically connect said switchblades an appreciable time before said actuating rod reaches the limit of its movement, whereby the rod may return from its fully operated position an appreciable distance toward open position without breaking the connection between said blades.

9. In a starting switclrthe combination of, a housing, switch blades mounted within said housing and having their working surfaces substantially parallel but one pro]eet ingr beyond the'ot-her,` an actuating `rod eX-' the hous'infr and having end tliereo y with a foot pedal on the. rod adjacent the housing, an electrical connector having surfaces of considerable 'area fhrfengaging said switch bladcsflexibly carried by said rod and adapted to velectrically.connect said blades and being guided by the longer of said blades into contact with the shorter`one,

tending through said switch blade working' surfaces being so constructed nector may more toward open circuit rposi-v aiid' arranged that said corition an appreciable distance afterbeingcarricd lo its full working position by the rod without breaking the "ccninection between said blades orniatcrially increasing the contact resistance.

ln witness whereof. l aflix my signature.

JULIUS H. RICHARDS.

.- 8.1In a starting switch the combinationl `4 

